Peter the Hermit - Preacher of the People's Crusade

A barefoot preacher from Picardy set half of Europe marching toward Jerusalem months before the regular armies departed. Peter the Hermit led tens of thousands of poor pilgrims to their deaths, then found himself and other survivors absorbed into Godfrey of Bouillon's princely army. How much of his famous life is record, and how much is later legend?

The early years of Geoffrey de Bouillon - on the job training for the First Crusade

Geoffrey (Godefroi, Godfrey ) de Bouillon, born around 1060, was a member of a prominent noble family in Bouillon, in the Ardennes region (now Belgium, Wallonia, province of Luxembourg), then a part of the Duchy of Lower Lorraine (Lotharingia). What do we know about his origins, childhood and early years?

Crusading Before the Crusades - Rewriting Medieval History

For over a century, historians have pointed to Pope Urban II's dramatic call at Clermont in 1095 as the moment when crusading was born, complete with its revolutionary system of spiritual rewards for holy warfare. What if the Crusades didn't begin with the First Crusade?

Urban's call to crusade - November 27, 1095 - the full text

On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II delivered his speech at Clermont Ferrand, aimed at arrousing the people to start an armed pilgrimage to deliver the Holy Land from the hands of the "pagans", a pilgirmage that later became known as the First Crusade. Of this speech several quite different versions have been delivered to our time by primary sources. Below are the version of Fulcher of Chartres and the one of Robert the Monk. 

Godfrey of Boullion - founder of the proto-Knights Templar?

Several dates on the formation of the Knights Templar have been mentioned. These usually lie between 1118 and 1120, the latter coinciding with the Council of Nablus. But some dates are significantly earlier and are related to one of the leaders of the First Crusade, Godfrey of Boullion.

5 Great Forces Transforming the Medieval Church

"The second half of the eleventh century was a particularly decisive time in the history of the church. To mention only three of the more important developments, the popes emerged as the leaders of an international reform movement in western Europe; they became involved in a dispute with the empire whose effects were to be long-lasting; and they directed the military efforts of Christendom against Islam, most notably in the First Crusade